Walla Walla Blue Devils turn back Chiefs 21-18

WALLA WALLA - Trino Rubio rushed for 152 yards and Justin Simmons threw for 179 and a TD, but their efforts weren't enough to pull out the win over Walla Walla Friday.

Moses Lake dug itself an early hole that was too big to crawl out of as the team trailed 21-0 at intermission.

The Blue Devils put seven points on the board in the first quarter on a 6-yard Dakota Turner run and a Dean Atkinson PAT. Walla Walla made it 14-0 on a 4-yard touchdown scamper from Stuart Gillin, then capped off the first half scoring and a 46-yard TD run by Jonah Hoe.

"It was a tough first half for us," coach Todd Griffith said. "We drove the ball to their 5-yard line on our first possession, but couldn't punch it in, then found ourselves down 21-0 at the break."

Trailing by three scores heading into the third quarter of play, the Chiefs were facing a deficit that seemed impossible to overcome.

But there was no quit in the team as Moses Lake dug down deep and rose to the occasion hanging 18 second half points on the Blue Devils, while keeping Walla Walla off the scoreboard.

The Chiefs scored 12 points in the third quarter off a 5-yard TD pass from Simmons to Brett Moser and a 55-yard run by Rubio. The PAT and 2-point conversion attempt were no good.

Moses Lake got another six points in the fourth quarter on a 97-yard pitch and catch from Simmons to Moser (kick failed) to close within three points.

"All-in-all, being down 21-0 we did have a lot of positives come out of the game," Griffith said. " The O line played well, we got a big game out of Trio and a heck of a game from Brett (Moser) who scored two TD's in his first varsity game. But we just didn't finish and turned the ball over four times."

Moser finished with three catches for 117 yards, Rubio had 152 yards on nine carriers and Simmons connected on 11 of 19 passes for 179 yards.

"The first game jitters are out of the way now," Griffith said. "We'll make some adjustments and get back on track. Teams that are successful at making adjustments between game one and game two typically make the playoffs, so we are not discouraged with the way things started."

Moses Lake gets a chance to rack up its first win when the Chiefs travel to Eisenhower Friday.

"They kind of took it to us last year, but we didn't have Simmons," Griffith said. "This will be a good challenge for us, but that's why we play football."